Your Brand Plan

Your Brand Radio: Nylund�s Collision Center Produces Smiles

David Sandusky — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:26:45 GMT

Business owners who understand they are in the relationship business, regardless of the business they are in, tend to create a culture that sustains employees, partners and customers.* Robert Grieve owns Nylund’s Collision Center and a culture that retains brand champions.* This show highlights how passion for your business and a vision for something tangible in your customer experience produces great results.* Listen, share and post your thoughts on how to create customers that are proud to associate with you!

Your Brand Radio welcomes guests and provides plenty of open show opportunities to discuss what is on your mind. How can we help? Your business is not unique, but you are!

Join in and be part of the on-line community and conversation on the Your Brand Radio Forum

Each Thursday at 4PM MST Mark Crowley and David Sandusky host Your Brand Radio at Espressole Caffe in the Denver Tech Center to discuss you, your personal brand, career, business and community strategies. Our guests demonstrate meaning with their involvement in business and community. Come on the show and tell us what you are doing that is interesting. Your business is not unique, but you are! Listen live and network in Denver, listen to the podcast player posted in this thread after each live broadcast. Continue the discussion and share your ideas in this forum!

Questions, thoughts or guest ideas? Open a new thread in this forum. Follow Your Brand Radio on twitter #ybr and Facebook.

CAREEREALISM: Am I Money #2 � Too Much Experience Being Shared!

RSS FEED-from consistent brands — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:40:27 GMT

My RSS Feed is an innovative online resource for career advice. CAREEREALISM by J.T. O�Donnell or an approved expert posted this:

By CAREEREALISM.com founder, J.T. O’Donnell

David is an ex-military, accomplished professional – he has tons of experience. The problem is that he is branding himself as a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ and smothering hiring managers with too much information in the process.

Watch this video to learn how David can connect with employers using the, “less is more” theory.

WANT TO BE OUR NEXT ‘AM I MONEY’ PROFILE?

David won a membership to CAREEREALISM Club for sharing his information that gets him private coaching from top career experts.
Interested in seeing if you are MONEY? Read THIS and then send us your materials – you might be our next Am I Money star!

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‘Am I Money?’ Want to know how career savvy you are? By CAREEREALISM...
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TED: TEDGlobal 2010 in pictures

RSS FEED-from consistent brands — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:40:15 GMT

My RSS Feed is a collection of inspirational Thinkers and Posted this:

A video recap of TEDGlobal 2010 in pictures and words — set to the tune of Ze Frank’s crowd-sourced song “Chillout.”

And watch for TEDTalks from TEDGlobal 2010, posting all year long on TED.com.

Download the video “TEDGlobal 2010 in pictures” >>

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Seth Godin: A few books for summer reading

RSS FEED-from consistent brands — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:40:15 GMT

My RSS Feed Seth Godin is a marketing genius with the best marketing blog. He posted this on Seth's blog:

Paco Underhill on women and retail.

Nancy Lublin on learning from causes.

Noah Boyd with an FBI thriller beach read. Better than the last Reacher novel, imho.

And stunningly elegant (and lovely to hold) pottery inspired by some of my work from Lori Koop.

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Brad Feld: Reverse Flips

RSS FEED-from consistent brands — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:40:15 GMT

My RSS Feed, Brad Feld, is a Thinker and Posted the Following on his blog:

Like most of the blogosphere, I’ve been trying to use Flipboard since its extraordinarily well executed (or well hyped – I can’t tell yet) announcement. *But, like almost everyone I know, I can’t get it to authenticate Twitter or Facebook. *Two days ago I entered in my email address to reserve my place in line. *Today, at 9:55 AM AKDT I got an email titled “Your Flipboard is Ready to Customize” that said:

Hi there. We’re now ready for you to set up your Facebook and Twitter accounts on Flipboard. Try it out and let us know what you think. And thanks again for your patience and enthusiasm.

I went to connect up my Twitter and Facebook accounts. *Nope – doesn’t work. *At 10:34 AM AKDT I got an email titled “Apology, and*Flipboard*

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Google Launches Geo-Targeted Mobile Display Ads, Boasts Nearly 100% Mobile Search Share

RSS FEED-from consistent brands — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:40:15 GMT

My RSS Feed is a top resource on mobile marketing. Mobile Marketing Watch bloggers posted this:

Google today announced new location-aware mobile display ads for both iPhone and Android devices, introducing iAd-like expandable ad-units that incorporate maps for click-to-call and other rich functionality.

Advertisers will be able to check a �location extension for display� box and their ads will become geo-enabled when viewed in mobile browsers or apps. *It works by including a small double-arrow in the ad-unit, that when touched, expands into a full ad that includes a map overlay with the business pinned on a Google Map. *In addition, the map overlay includes two large calls-to-action for “get directions” and “click-to-call.”

Google has experimented with these types of ad-units before, with pretty good results so far. *The company has said that mobile ads that offer a location generally see an average 8 percent increase in click-through rates over plain-vanilla mobile ads, and click-to-call mobile ads see a 6 percent increase in clicks.

In other Google-related news, Pingdom came out with some interesting mobile search market share stats today that show Google with a commanding lead in the mobile search game — as in nearly 100% of the entire market. *Google now stands at 98.29% of the market, with it’s closest competitor Yahoo coming in at a measly .81% share.

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Distimo Mobile Apps Report: 10% Of Apps For iPad Include In-App Purchases

RSS FEED-from consistent brands — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:00:54 GMT

My RSS Feed is a top resource on mobile marketing. Mobile Marketing Watch bloggers posted this:

Distimo published its latest report on mobile apps today, highlighting some interesting tidbits for the mobile app ecosystem. *This month’s report focuses once again on in-app purchases, as related to the many app stores it covers.

Distimo includes data from the Apple App Store — separating data for iPad and iPhone apps — as well as Blackberry App World, Android Market, Nokia Ovi Store, Palm App Catalog and the Windows Marketplace for Mobile. *Probably the most interesting finding this month was in relation to in-app purchases between iPad apps compared to iPhone apps.

The percentage of apps with in-app purchases is significantly higher in the App Store for iPad (10%) than in the App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch. *The “Games” and “Social Networking” categories in both stores have the highest proportion of apps with in-app purchases available.

Further, the most*successful free applications that monetized using in-app purchases this month in the App Store for iPhone are*MobiTV, ESPN 2010 FIFA World Cup and Tap Fish. *The most successful paid apps that monetized via in-app purchases were Guitar Hero, TomTom U.S.A. and Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies II. *Mirroring the Distimo report covering May 2010, Pages and iBooks from Apple are again the number one paid and free*applications on the App Store for iPad, respectively.

Download the full report for much more data and graphs galore — it’s always an interesting read.

click here to read more from and support Mobile Marketing Watch

TED: A new X Challenge to clean up oil spills

RSS FEED-from consistent brands — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:00:54 GMT

My RSS Feed is a collection of inspirational Thinkers and Posted this:

Being announced right now in Washington, DC: A brand-new X Challenge to combat oil spills. The Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge is a $1.4 million prize to promote development of new technologies and techniques to capture spilled oil. As Peter Diamandis said at the announcement: “We are not rewarding someone for existing technology. We want to help create new technologies.”

At the event, TEDTalks star David Gallo said: “This prize is very timely: So that the next time this happens, the next time the President says we’ll do everything we can, we will have the necessary technology to do that.”

Starting today, you can visit iprizecleanoceans.org to find rules, requirements and more details — and register your team to enter the challenge.

This X Challenge was first announced at TEDxOilSpill, held in June in DC. Watch the original announcement on the archived livestream — the announcement, from Francis B�land, VP, Prize Development, comes in Session 2 at 01:12:12.

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Getting Away with the CEO Swap

RSS FEED-from consistent brands — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:00:54 GMT

My RSS Feed is a top personal brand and Gen Y career blog, you will benefit regardless of generation including this post from Dan Schawbel or approved blogger:

So, Tony Hayward is being replaced as CEO of BP by an American. It�s not surprising to see that the company is doing whatever they can to minimize damage and public outcry. I�ve come to find it interesting that when a company gets itself in to serious trouble, that the �CEO Swap� is viewed as an acceptable part of the solution It has become an expected worst-scenario step whenever a corporate scandal breaks out.

The acceptable solution

The �CEO Swap� has become increasingly popular over the last few decades. In a way I�ve began to think that this public relations tactic is on its way out now that the availability and consistency of information insures that real change is necessary to quell public opinion. I even admire companies that opt to keep their CEO�s in-office to prove that they don�t need to use this type of PR distraction to make changes.

Your brand

What if I could do that when I did something wrong… could I just quit something every time I mess up and expect to keep my brand marketable and respectable? No. Could my company replace employees every time they messed up and still expect good work from their employees and trust from their customers? No. When you make a mistake you fix it � sometimes you can end up in a better place because of it. This concept has some major applications to the longevity and value of your brand. You want to be seen as someone who can make things happen, fix problems, and take on tough challenges.

Author:

David Trahan is a Strategist at leading social marketing agency*Mr Youth in New York, which was named one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Marketing Companies in the World by Fast Company Magazine. He currently serves on the board of the*AD Club of New York Young Professionals and is an Alumni Mentor at Pace University. Connect with him on*LinkedIn and*Twitter or read his blog posts at*GrownUpThinking.

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click here to read more from and support Dan Schawbel

Millennial Publishes S.M.A.R.T Report For June, Shows 77.4M Users Of The US Mobile Web

RSS FEED-from consistent brands — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:26:00 GMT

My RSS Feed is a top resource on mobile marketing. Mobile Marketing Watch bloggers posted this:

Millennial Media published its latest S.M.A.R.T report for June this morning, showing that the US mobile Web has grown by 3% — from 75.3M to 77.4M active users.

Millennial’s US unique audience reach also increased 2% since May’s report, growing from 61.5M to 62.9M users month-over-month, showing an impressive 81% reach of the mobile Web. *As another interesting demographical stat, the report states that Hispanic and Black multi-cultural audiences continue to lead in mobile data usage in the US, with Millennial’s June rankings of the top US mobile DMAs being comprised of high multi-cultural populations. *The top 5 DMAs for June were Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix and Sacramento.

This month’s spotlight was on the Entertainment ad*vertical, as the industry as a whole in embracing mobile in a big way. *For example, a 300% increase in DVD-release campaigns since Q2 2009 signaled recognition by movie studios that mobile advertising can be used to effectively drive results across all product release windows — i.e. motion picture releases, DVD releases, VOD and more.

In terms of engagement, Millennial is reporting that mobile Web destinations continue to represent the majority, with nearly 80% of Millennial’s entire “Campaign Destination Mix” for June. *Rich media campaigns and app-download campaigns continue to show increased movement as well.

As always, you can view the entire report for all the statistical goodies Millennial publishes. *It can be downloaded here.

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Duct Tape Marketing: Why Is Simple So Hard

RSS FEED-from consistent brands — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:51:42 GMT

My RSS Feed is a top resource on small business marketing. John Jantsch posted this on Duct Tape Marketing:

Why Is Simple So Hard

This content from: Duct Tape Marketing

The other I posed this somewhat trick laden question on Twitter – “Is making something easier to understand dumming it down or smartening it up?” The answers I got were mixed. Some obviously saw that I was suggesting it’s actually harder to make some easy to understand. Others clearly felt that it somewhat of a disservice to try to make things that were complicated seem simple.

That, in a nutshell, is why simple is so hard. As any regular Twitter user will tell you, you have to work sometimes to get your point across in 140 characters, but the real demon is that we feel the need to make things sound more important than they are or to demonstrate in verbose ways how much, in fact, we know about something that others don’t. I can’t tell you how many times the editor of my book suggested that I needed to utilize use simpler language.

The problem with simple is that it actually takes more work. I often quote Mark Twain here – “I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had time to make it shorter . . .”

The most successful companies I know have been able to boil down what they do, what they stand for, what they are trying to do, how they are unique, or the innovation that will rock your world into one succinct and memorable phrase, and that’s the magic. Earnest Hemingway is considered by many to be one of the greatest American writers of all time. It is widely known that one his most famous traits was the use of short sentences. I’ll defer to Copyblogger’s Ernest Hemingway’s Top 5 Tips for Writing Well to act as a resource for this idea.

When I was creating the Duct Tape Marketing system for my small business clients I started off with something that was far more dense than the 7 simple steps that exist today. The paring down was all done by my clients that wanted something simple and doable. That lesson is a central filter for everything I do, but it’s still a challenge.

Open your business up and ask yourself how you could land on one easy to understand and communicate thing that you stand for. One simple, single purpose for doing what you do. One audacious innovation that takes people’s breath away. Don’t complicate it, no matter how trivial it feels. Turn to a 6 year old and ask them what you do and pay close attention to the answer because it’s probably not draped in the mask of importance that we so seem to cling to. Simple has far more value than complex, try it on and see how it feels.

Image credit: redjar

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Chris Brogan-social media: Amazon and the Kindle Conspiracy

RSS FEED-from consistent brands — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:25:05 GMT

My RSS Feed is the best resource for all things social media. Chris Brogan posted the following on his blog:

I need to be very clear. I believe Amazon is positioned to be the winner in the content delivery war. Have you really looked around Amazon.com lately? You can buy a jar of peanut butter, a set of spark plugs, and all the digital content you can consume. As an Android phone user, they’re my iTunes stand-in. And with the way they’re sneaking Kindles out into the universe, it’s all going to go even deeper.

The Ultimate Distribution Coup

People are out there saying, “iPads are kicking Kindle’s butt.” Perhaps they missed the Kindle for iPad memo. Or the Kindle for Android memo. Or the Kindle for iPhones memo. It’s not about the device.

USA Today reports that Amazon’s announced it’s 3rd generation Kindle at a price point of $139 US. That’s getting close to dirt cheap. Hell, if I were a book publisher, I’d mail Kindles to my top 20,000 personal buyers.

But They Can’t

Because Barnes & Noble (and I’m a huge huge huge fan of the store) has the Nook, and because Borders (fan of them, too) has whatever they call their new ereader (sorry, Borders, but no one’s buying them – but thanks for the iPad app). And won’t this kill the independent?

That’s where the publishers head has to be in this game. They have to be very Switzerland. They have to be WalMart friendly, indie friendly, etc. And it’s a position that I think will choke them into some really surprising moves in the next 3 years or less.

The Kindle Conspiracy

Distribution is everything, friends. The iPod was reasonably neato. It had great marketing: 1000 songs. That was so easy to understand that people rushed in and bought them. But the iTunes Store was everything. Distribution. Suddenly, the universe fell in on itself for a while there.

iPhone? Same thing, new market.

Kindle is doing that. As the iPad gives us all a “hey, this is a strange device in search of a market,” it’s given Kindle more ground. As the Kindle app will run on your desktop, your phone, your tablet, the Kindle tablet, whatever, they’ve got you in the mood to swipe up books without much thought.

The moment the Kindle stretches distribution to other things, it’ll be the big giant explosion.

And in the mean time, Amazon, who owns Audible, who owns video distribution, who owns all various kinds of other media products besides books, can (will) cut out the weaker of the publishing houses and/or buy them at pennies on the dollar.

Distribution is the Key

Don’t look at the device. Don’t fret about the device. Think of it as yet another way to gain ground in distribution. Keep your eyes on this, and also think about how this impacts your business. Think further on whether there are ways you could do distribution differently (better, partnered) and what that would give you.

It’s a clever world out there, if we watch for it.

click here to read more from and support Chris Brogan

Apple Now Helps iOS Apps Emerge From Obscurity With �iAd For Developers�

RSS FEED-from consistent brands — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:10:44 GMT

My RSS Feed is a top resource on mobile marketing. Mobile Marketing Watch bloggers posted this:

Apple has announced a new feature for its iAd network that allows app developers to promote their apps within other apps, helping to curb the problem of app obscurity as the App Store continues to grow exponentially.

The new feature, dubbed iAd for Developers, uses the same network used to serve rich media advertisements to also promote similar apps that are relevant to the user-experience. *For example, if you’re using an app to look up movie showtimes, you might see a banner pop up for another app — movie-related or otherwise — granted the original app is using iAd. *You’d then be able to look at the basic information about the app, and if you wanted to, buy and download it without leaving the original movie app.

To use the service, developers first have to register and then speak to an iAd representative about their budget and the specifics of their campaign, but the service allows developers to also use keywords to exclude competitors from placing iAds in their apps. *Pricing and other details have yet to surface, however.

The move shows that Apple is recognizing a growing problem that will*plague*the mobile app ecosystem going forward, which is an over abundance of apps in the marketplace. *As thousands of new apps are introduced every month, it will become harder and harder for a developers to make their apps known, and for consumers to wade through the noise to find good, quality apps. *App stores and platforms, like Android and Apple, will undoubtedly have to start coming up with solutions to this problem, though it may just be an uphill battle as mobile apps continue to flourish and app development becomes a simpler process.

Solutions like Google’s App Inventor, which allows almost anyone to create Android apps using a familiar WYSIWYG-type editor, won’t help the situation at all, and similar services will likely enter the market overtime. *It’s an interesting problem with no clear-cut solution on the horizon, which makes the case for mobile Web apps as a preferable means to distribute one’s content.

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TED: A monkey economy as irrational as ours: Laurie Santos on TED.com

RSS FEED-from consistent brands — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:10:34 GMT

My RSS Feed is a collection of inspirational Thinkers and Posted this:

Laurie Santos looks for the roots of human irrationality by watching the way our primate relatives make decisions. A clever series of experiments in “monkeynomics” shows that some of the silly choices we make, monkeys make too. (Recorded at TEDGlobal 2010, July 2010 in Oxford, UK. Duration: 19:46)

Watch Laurie Santos’ talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 700+ TEDTalks.

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Avoiding the Google Slap

RSS FEED-from consistent brands — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:36:27 GMT

My RSS Feed is a top affiliate marketing solution. ClickBank posted this on their blog:

Written by: Beau Blackwell, Community Manager

A common fear among Internet marketers these days is the dreaded “Google slap.” If you’re not familiar with the term, it refers to Google significantly lowering the Quality Score of AdWords ad/advertisers, or banning them from advertising on AdWords outright.

Since Google slaps can be a big concern for ClickBank affiliates and vendors, we’ve made a concerted effort to work with Google to identify what causes them to lower the Quality Score of particular ads or landing pages. Now we’d like to share what we’ve learned with you so you can ensure your advertising and landing pages meet Google’s quality guidelines and maintain a positive Quality Score.

We’ve condensed the information we’ve learned directly from Google into the following videos, which discuss topics like the purpose of Quality Score, what goes into Quality Score calculation, specific techniques and page elements that Google frowns upon, and what to do if you’ve been “slapped.” As we learn more about this issue, we’ll continue to share it with you. Feel free to leave comments with questions or concerns, and we’ll try to get them answered for you.

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